CAWN and WIDE+ call on European Parliamentarians to pressure El Salvador to end ban on Abortion

The Central America Women’s Network (CAWN) and Women in Development Europe (WIDE+) have asked European Parliamentarians to pressure El Salvador to have an open debate in its Legislative Assembly to change the legislation that bans abortion under all circumstances. MEP Members of the Delegation to the Euro-Latin American Parliamentary Assembly will come together on 16-18 May in Lisbon, Spain and meet Latin American parliamentarians.

Human rights groups in El Salvador agree that a debate on the inadequacies of the abortion law in the Legislative Assembly is key for the advance of women’s reproductive rights in the country and the rest of the region.

In the current climate of the Zika virus, the need to change the current legislation to allow women control over their own reproductive life has become even more pressing. The high maternal mortality rate caused by unsafe abortions in El Salvador could now potentially skyrocket.

The EU must act in line with the objectives of the new framework for Gender Equality and Women’s Empowerment through EU external relations for the period 2016-2020, particularly on the goal of empowering women to have control over their sexual and reproductive life.